Turkey ‘interested’ in producing pioneering Russian-developed ‘Sputnik V’ coronavirus vaccine – Moscow

The Health Minister in Ankara has expressed his government’s interest in licensing Russia's groundbreaking ‘Sputnik V’ Covid-19 vaccine for local production by Turkish drug companies, Moscow's own Health Ministry has reported.

The news comes after Minister Fahrettin Koca spoke with his Russian counterpart, Mikhail Murashko on Tuesday.

“The Turkish health minister has expressed interest in organizing the production of the ‘Sputnik V’ vaccine at Turkish pharmacological capacities, after toxicology studies required by domestic law are completed,” the Russian Health Ministry said in a statement.

Sputnik V is one of several Covid-19 vaccine candidates that are currently nearing the end of Phase III clinical trials. The Russian drug regulator registered it in August, after the formula was shown to be safe in preliminary testing.

An agreement on future production of the Russian vaccine in India was announced two weeks ago, after the local regulator gave the green light to clinical tests necessary for licensing it for the Indian market.

Turkey has had over 11,000 recorded coronavirus-related deaths and registered almost 400,000 cases of the disease, so far.

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